Adventures in Baseball Archeology: the Negro Leagues, Latin American baseball, J-ball, the minors, the 19th century, and other hidden, overlooked, or unknown corners of baseball history...with occasional forays into other sports.

December 2006

December 31, 2006

My nominee for Negro League research find of the year for 2006 would have to be some in-game footage of the All Nations great (and Hall of Fame nominee) John Donaldson, both pitching and batting. Very little Negro League film exists at all; to find some of a semi-obscure figure like Donaldson, who labored mostly outside even the organized Negro Leagues, is astonishing. Some people seem to think the big story is that Shoeless Joe Jackson might be in the crowd at the game. I couldn’t care less. We already know more than enough about Jackson, one of the more overstudied, overexposed, and undeservedly romanticized figures in the game’s history; Donaldson’s the point.

Here is a brief item with some interesting information about Charlie Grant, a.k.a. “Chief Tokahoma,” the man John McGraw tried to sneak into the majors as an ersatz Indian. From the Baltimore Afro-American, July 15, 1916:

I have also seen “Tokahoma” (from Riley) rendered as “Tokohama.” I tried to check this quickly on ProQuest, but they have apparently decided to end the SABR subscription several hours early. (It’s not supposed to end until midnight tonight, at least according to a SABR announcement that said that beginning on January 1, we would no longer have access.)

December 20, 2006

Here are statistics for the 1905 Cuban League, known officially as La Liga Habanera de Base-Ball (or Havana Baseball League), which played from January 29 through May 14, 1905.

[NOTE: Stats for the 1904/05 Cuban League have been deleted, but will reappear in a different venue in the
near future. Stay tuned!]

This is, I believe, complete (Almendares also lost a game by forfeit to Habana); there are some interesting discrepancies between these statistics and those published in Figueredo’s Cuban Baseball. Most notably, perhaps, the box scores show Julián Castillo with the highest batting average, at .308, beating out Regino García (.281), which would interrupt García’s string of four straight batting titles.

December 18, 2006

Some of the interesting points here: 1) a rough sense of Luis’s age: he was born in 1879 or early 1880; 2) his trips to Mexico (he also played in Mexico, along with Rogelio Valdés and Carlos Morán, during the winter of 1904-1905); 3) his reputation as a base stealer, and the fact that he didn’t slide; 4) his “peculiar deliveries” as a pitcher; and 5) the claim that “several major league managers” were already interested in him.

Meanwhile, I found a “Juan Padrón” in the U.S. census for 1910: a 12-year-old listed as “white,” living in Key West with his father, also named Juan, a cigar-maker. This fits the age and place of birth that other Negro League historians have given Juan; but there’s no way to be sure this is him.

December 14, 2006

Here are statistics for the 1906 Cuban League season, officially called La Liga General de Base-Ball de la República de Cuba, played from January 1 to April 29, 1906.

[NOTE: Stats for the 1905/06 Cuban League have been deleted, but will reappear in a different venue in the
near future. Stay tuned!]

I’ve had this done for some time, but have held back from posting it because one game is missing. The reporter who served as official scorer and who supplied box scores to both La Lucha and Diario de la Marina, Ramón Mendoza, was absent from the game. I’m hoping that eventually I’ll find a box printed in another of the several Havana newspapers. In the meantime, if anyone has access to other Cuban newspapers from this period, the game was played on April 15, Fe defeating Habana 7 to 3. By comparing the stats I’ve compiled with those in Figueredo’s Cuban Baseball, it would appear that Luis González defeated Pedro Medina.

December 12, 2006

In Riley’s Biographical Encyclopedia, we find the following description of Hall of FamerLouis Santop’s military service: “Santop missed most of the next two seasons (1918-19) due to Navy service during World War I, but after the Armistice he stayed with Ed Bolden’s Hilldale club for the remainder of his career…” On the other hand, John Holway lists Louis Santop as the regular catcher for both Hilldale and the Brooklyn Royal Giants in 1918, and for Brooklyn in 1919.

In the Chicago Defender for 1918, Santop shows up several times with Hilldale, until this note appears in the July 27 issue:

And in the same issue:

Interestingly, Camp Dix, New Jersey, was an Army base, though Santop was supposed to have been in the Navy. Even more interestingly, Santop apparently continued to play for Hilldale throughout the rest of the summer. I found a reference to him, for example, in an article about the American Giants’ tour of the east coast (Defender 8/10/18). Referring to a game played on Thursday, August 1 (an 8-7 win by Hilldale), Dave Wyatt wrote this: “Santop, the human freight car, pulled off the dirtiest piece of work on Gans that was ever witnessed on a ball lot; this, too, with ‘Judy’ leaving for Camp Grant on Saturday.” (I’d like to know exactly what he did to Jude Gans!) Incidentally, Wyatt also says that Tom Williams, also supposed to have been drafted with Santop, started the game for Hilldale. Then Santop pops up in the summary of another American Giants/Hilldale game on Sunday, August 11 (getting a triple and being hit by a pitch), and gets a mention in a short item on an undated game against the “Kauffman Club” (Defender 8/17/18).

In the August 17 Defender, an explanation appears:

That’s quite an injury. You have to wonder whether it was overstated a little, whether by the newspaper, the doctors, or Santop himself. Would it really be possible to catch professionally if you couldn’t even handle a gun or salute? If it wasn’t exaggerated, it would certainly have strongly shaped Santop’s baseball career (although he continued to catch regularly at least through 1921).

Anyway, Santop, along with Tom Williams, is mentioned in another, undated game against the Cuban Stars in the August 31 Defender; then in a September 5 Hilldale game vs. the Turner Field Club (Defender 9/7/1918). In late September, Santop played for Hilldale against a Camp Dix team featuring Leroy Roberts and “Yank” Deas of the Bacharach Giants (Defender 9/28/18).

Finally Santop did get into the military, but as a Navy stevedore (Defender 11/9/18):

So what about 1919? When did he get out of the service?

This is from the Chicago Defender, May 31, 1919. The Royal Giants/Bushwicks doubleheader would have been played on the previous Sunday, May 25. Note that H. B. Harris, the friend who held the testimonial dinner for Santop back when he was going in the Army, was the Royal Giants’ new business manager, which gives some background to Santop’s signing with them.

So, bottom line: Santop actually played professional, non-military baseball for all of the 1918 season, and most of the 1919 season, starting on May 25.

December 11, 2006

In January 1924, the Baltimore Afro-American began a series of mini-biographies of Black Sox players, which provided some useful detail on their careers. Unfortunately, they seem to have only published two, for new Hall-of-FamerPete Hill and the more obscure Wade Johnston:

(Afro-American, January 18, 1924)

(Afro-American, February 1, 1924)

Hill’s year with the Philadelphia Royal Stars, a club run by Chappie Johnson, is an interesting and little-known episode in his career. Given that Hill had long served as Foster’s right-hand man, and had been delegated by Foster to lead the Detroit Stars in their infancy, one wonders about the circumstances of his eastward move in 1922 (the next year would find him back in the west with another Foster startup project, the NNL’s short-lived Milwaukee Bears). According to the Philadelphia Public Ledger (August 7, 1922), the Royal Stars made a month-long western tour in July; I haven’t seen a hint of them in any NNL cities, which is odd, given Hill’s connections.

The Royal Stars played mostly in the Philadelphia area, as a member of the independent Philadelphia Baseball Association, which included both white and black semi-pro or independent clubs, many of which were not necessarily based in Philadelphia; the Baltimore Black Sox and Bill Pettus’s Richmond Giants were members. The organization seems to have wielded some disciplinary powers; Hilldale was fined, for example, when Ed Bolden pulled his team off the field during a contest with the Baltimore Black Sox in Baltimore.

The Philadelphia Baseball Association also held a championship contest in September and October, which consisted of round-robin schedules played to determine the champions of three classes: Class A, which consisted of white teams within Philadephia city limits; Class B, which included white clubs outside of Philadelphia; and Class C, all “colored” clubs. In October, the winners of Classes A and B were to meet to decide the association’s white champion, who would then meet the Class C victors for the overall championship of the association. The champions were to be awarded trophies by the Public Ledger, which covered the local semi-pro scene in some detail. Only four African-American teams competed. Although I couldn’t find the final standings, the Richmond Giants won Class C, beating out Hilldale, the Madison Stars, and Pete Hill’s Philadelphia Royal Stars. I haven’t yet found the result of the game between Richmond and the white champs.

December 8, 2006

For the blog’s 100th post, here is a photo of Juan Padrón I found recently (La Lucha, October 6, 1918):

The heading reads: “A pitcher with a famous left arm.”

The caption reads: “Juan Padrón, the marvelous Cuban pitcher just returned from Mexico, who very probably will lend his valuable services to one of the clubs forming the National Professional League [the newly reorganized Cuban League].”

Figueredo has Luis Padrón as a pitcher/outfielder for Almendares in the 1918/19 Cuban League, which is interesting since Almendares was Juan’s team in 1915/16. Neither Padrón appeared in the special preseason series played in the fall of 1918 (Copa El Mundo and a couple of others); ditto for the few box scores I’ve so far collected for the 1918/19 regular season.

Compare these other photos of Luis and Juan, along with this one of Luis (he appears in the middle of the top row).

December 7, 2006

Also see the league rosters posted earlier. It’s the same three-team setup we saw in 1904 and 1905. This time the league got off to a late start, commencing play in early August, only to see political unrest cut the season short. The last game of the short season was played on September 9 as a rebellion neared the capital. Shortly thereafter U.S. troops occupied the island per the Platt Amendment, American federal legislation that reserved to the U.S. the right to intervene militarily in Cuban affairs (and also allowed for the acquisition of Guantánamo Bay).

Again, the lack of published schedules or standings makes it uncertain whether I’ve got all the games.

December 5, 2006

Here is an account by Scott Simkus of a 1914 series between the Indianapolis ABCs and a major/minor league team (with stats also compiled by Scott):

*******In his Complete Book of Baseball’s Negro Leagues (p. 108), John Holway recounts the story of a 1915 post-season series pitting C.I. Taylor’s Indianapolis ABCs against a team of white major and minor league All-Stars managed by Detroit Tiger shortstop Donie Bush. In fact, the Donie Bush All-Stars / ABCs series was a running attraction in Indianapolis for several years in the 1910s. These games took place in Indianapolis after the professional seasons had ended and when most of the players had already returned home. Bush, an Indianapolis native, rounded up the top white professionals from around Indy and battled the ABCs on consecutive Sundays in October. These games were promoted heavily in the newspapers and attracted record-setting crowds.

In the case of Indy, the 1915 series served as preparation for their trip to Cuba that winter. Indeed, immediately following their last game against Bush’s Stars, they hopped aboard a train and headed south, en route to Havana. If you’ve read the Complete Book (and if you’re reading Agate Type, I’m sure you have), you know C. I. Taylor needed to bail Bingo DeMoss and Oscar Charleston out of jail first before embarking on their trip. The contests were hard-fought, and in the last of four games (Holway lists only three, with stats for two), a controversial call instigated a near-riot. Donie Bush was called safe on a close play, an enraged Bingo DeMoss (the ABCs second baseman) charged the umpire, and rookie Oscar Charleston sprinted in from centerfield and slugged the umpire in the jaw. In the four game series, Taylor’s ABCs went 1-2-1 (the first game—not listed by Holway, possibly because it was a minor leaguer on the bump—was a 12-inning, 3-3 tie, Oscar Charleston going 3 for 4 against a minor league pitcher).

Holway, however, doesn’t mention the Bush All-Stars / ABCs series played in other years, such as the four-game series played in October of 1914. Although Charleston had not yet arrived on the scene, a number of very interesting players participated. The ABC’s went 2-2 in the four games. A quick recap:

Game One, Oct 11, 1914: Detroit Tiger George “Hooks” Dauss (18-15, 2.86) went head-to-head with Stringbean Williams (10-9 according to Holway). ABCs scored first and had a 3-2 lead going into the fifth inning. The game was tied in the sixth, when Dauss hit a long homer to take the lead in his own ballgame. They never looked back and cruised to a 6-3 victory.

Game Two, Oct. 18, 1914: Taylor beefs up his squad by adding Chicago American Giants superstars John Henry Lloyd, Bruce Petway, Jess Barbour and Frank Wickware (who did the pitching, striking out 9 in 8 innings of work). Dauss once again hurled for the All-Stars and beared down, shutting out the beefed up ABC squad, 3-0. Wickware was exceptional, allowing only 7 hits and 1 walk during his stint. Lloyd went 2 for 4 against Dauss, with a double. (I’ve never seen this game listed in his personal contests against major league pitchers.) Barbour was also 2 for 4. Petway didn’t fare so well, going 0 for 3 and allowing 5 stolen bases. In what was to become a critical play in the game, Bush stole second, then on the very next pitch, headed for third. A frustrated Petway gunned the ball over Barbour’s head and Bush trotted in to score.

Game Three, Oct. 25, 1914: Dauss had to leave town, the American Giants players returned home, and a minor league pitcher got the start for the Bush men. Benny Kauff, the batting champion of the Federal League, started in center field for the All-Stars. Dicta Johnson (7-10 per Holway) started for the ABCs and was brilliant, shutting out the All-Stars with his spitball, allowing only 4 hits as the ABCs won 8-0. Kauff went 1 for 4 and was roughed up during his one inning of relief pitching in a mop-up role. The Indianapolis Star was unmerciful: “As a pitcher, Bennie Kauff is the king of base stealers in the Federal League… The ABCs rode the Hoofed star all over the lot and some of the balls he floated up to them were lost in the reservoir located just outside of the left-field barrier.”

Game Four, Nov. 1, 1914: Dicta Johnson started again and was nearly un-hittable. He struck out 15 batters (Kauff was 0 for 3) and the ABCs cruised to a 6-3 victory to even the series. Ben Taylor went 3 for 4 against major leaguer Lefty Whitehouse (2-0, 4.85 with the Indianapolis Hoosiers).